Spurs Cool Off, Stuck in Third

Spurs Cool Off, Stuck in Third

Written by Randy Watson

What started out as a good week and a continuation of a long winning streak, took a turn for the worse on Sunday with the Spurs losing to their arch-rivals, the Dallas Mavericks. Unfortunately, the loss hurts in more ways than one. With the loss, and only two games left in the season, the Spurs are locked in 3rd place in the division, with no chance of catching Phoenix.

In Sunday’s game, the Spurs were without their leader, Tim Duncan for much of the second half. Duncan picked up two technical fouls in less than two minutes late in the 3rd quarter and was relegated to watching the rest of the game from the locker room. The Spurs could have used him. The game was close the whole way, but without Duncan, the Spurs simply couldn’t hold on. Dallas scored nine straight points to end the game, and San Antonio went the last 6:32 without scoring a basket.

Tony Parker led all scorers with 23 points, and Tim Duncan had 16 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks before being ejected.

Before this game, the Spurs had been on a tremendous roll, winning six in a row and going 12-1 over the last 13 games. Unfortunately, the loss means that should the Spurs meet Phoenix in the second round, and Dallas in the Finals, both will have the home court advantage over the Spurs. Although it’s a bitter pill, the Spurs must swallow it and quickly get back to playing the kind of ball that allowed them to have such a long winning streak to start with.

The upcoming week features San Antonio traveling to Memphis, and then against Denver to close out the regular season. The Spurs have been one of the leagues hottest teams since the All-Star break, and will be looking to pick up where they left off before the Dallas loss.